Remains of old car emerge on South Carolina beach. How it got there is a mystery
A vintage car can now be added to the list of strange things found buried on Carolinas beaches.
At least, it looks like it was a car.
The chassis — including a corroded engine — has emerged from the sands on Waites Island, South Carolina, an undeveloped barrier island just north of North Myrtle Beach.
How it got on the island and stuck in the sand is a mystery social media simply cannot resist.
Kayaker Carol Cutuli was among the first to post a photo of it on Facebook, writing Aug 1: “Buried car wreck...No idea how it got on island.”
It has emerged even further in the week since, with WPDE Chief Meteorologist Ed Piotrowski sharing a photo Tuesday that shows most of the rusted frame is now out of the sand.
“This old car (is) buried in the sand on the Waites Island side of Hog Inlet,” Piotrowski reported, crediting the photo to William Chapman. “It keeps getting covered and uncovered with shifting sand, tides, and and storms!”
Some believe the car has been stuck on the island since “the early 50s,” he said.
Adding to the mystery is the fact Waites is a 3-square-mile island “inaccessible by car,” according to a June 2018 report by The State. “The shoreline is virtually deserted,” The State said.
Beaches in North and South Carolina are famous for hosting a variety of buried oddities. This includes century-old shipwrecks, lighthouse foundations and even mines from World War II. Some of it is historic and protected by law, while others are dangerous and must be carted away after storms.
Cars and SUVs frequently get stuck on Outer Banks and must be pulled out of the sand by tow trucks, but it’s tough to find reports of a car found after years of being stuck in the beach.
More than 1,500 people have reacted to Piotrowski’s post about the car, many of them closely examining the photo to figure out what type of engine it had. Some people have said there are actually two old cars stuck on the island.
Speculation as to how they got there includes the possibility the cars were “purposely buried” to stop erosion of the dunes.
“Perhaps a beach patrol during WWII,” Russell Hughes wrote. “We did have beach patrols along the Grand Strand during those years.”
A lot of jokes have also been posted. Some have marveled at how good the tire looks and proposed all or part of the wreck could be sold on Craigslist — if listed as having “slight cosmetic damage.”
“Some new gas and a battery and that baby will fire right up,” Chris Scott posted.
“Just needs a little TLC,” Sonya Lien added.
This story was originally published August 12, 2020 at 11:11 AM with the headline "Remains of old car emerge on South Carolina beach. How it got there is a mystery."